Machines for preparing beverages by injecting a fluid in a capsule are well-known. The method of preparing a beverage is in principle as follows. The capsule is inserted into the beverage production module of a beverage production machine. The module is designed to inject a liquid such as for example hot water into the capsule in order to have the liquid interacts with the ingredients contained in the capsule. Note that some beverage production techniques ask for a pressurized injection like coffee beverage, others such as e.g. brewing tea can be made at ambient pressure. The invention can find application in both scenarios. The result of the interaction, i.e. the produced beverage or liquid comestible, is then drained from the capsule and fed to a receptacle such as e.g. a cup placed below an outlet for the beverage.
The invention relates particularly to beverage production machines comprising a module with a capsule engagement member, which can be displaced from a capsule insertion position to a beverage preparation position and then put back to the capsule insertion position. The module comprises means for ejecting the capsule from the capsule engagement member during this last step. Such a machine presents the advantage of having a capsule discharge position which is offset relative to the beverage production position. This advantage is of interest when the machine and the capsule are conceived for delivering the beverage directly out of the capsule in a cup without the beverage contacting the machine since it enables the discharge of the capsule in a position which is offset relative to the vertical of the beverage flow path. Such a beverage production machine is described in EP-A1-2 033 551.
In such a machine, the capsule is introduced in the beverage production module, retained by pre-fixation arms in a pre-engagement position and then engaged by a capsule engagement member that is conformal to the capsule shape further to the movement of the engagement member to the capsule. At the end of this movement, the capsule is clamped between the capsule engagement member and another part of the machine and the diluent, generally water, can be introduced to interact with the ingredients in the capsule. The resulting beverage flows out of the capsule either through an outlet provided in the capsule or/and produced by the machine during the capsule engagement and falls by gravity in a cup. Once the beverage has been delivered, the capsule engagement member moves back to the capsule discharge position dragging the capsule towards a position offset relative to the vertical of the beverage flow path. The movement of the capsule engagement member is a combination of a linear movement and an end swivelling movement that helps for the disengagement of the capsule since it can fall by gravity from the capsule engagement member.
This particular movement of the capsule engagement member is obtained by guiding pins attached to the lateral sides of the capsule engagement member in two guiding curves simultaneously. The first guiding curve is designed in the housing of the module and the second guiding curve is designed in one of the linkages of a knee joint mechanism. The end of the knee joint mechanism is a handle which—when actuated—enables the displacement of the capsule engagement member through both guiding curves.
A problem of the knee joint mechanism is that it comprises numerous different components. The procurement of these different components raises the price of production of the machine. Their assembly is long and raises the price of manufacturing of the machine too.
The object of the present invention is to propose an alternative mechanism for the implementation of the same movement of the capsule engagement member, said mechanism being less expensive to produce than the known knee joint mechanism.